Gurnard returns to Marmara Sea as mucilage vanishes

KOCAELİ

Gurnard, known as the “queen of the seas” is returning to the Marmara Sea after the side effects of the mucilage has started vanishing, according to experts, who have dived into the Marmara Sea to investigate the effect of the mucilage one year after its onset.

The gurnard appeared around the rocky habitats, said the experts, who dived into the waters along the coast of Eskihisar in the northwestern province of Kocaeli’s Gebze district, reiterating that the bottom creatures were also found to have returned during the dive on June 24.

Reminding that the sight was closed in the dive last year due to mucilage clusters, the experts said, the mucilage, which was still found to exist as a thin layer during the dive in June, vanished and the return of the sea creatures can be seen from the first few meters.

Mustafa Akay, one of the experts, also pointed out that household and industrial wastes flowing from the rainwater channels to the Eskihisar coast are a big threat for the creatures’ ecosystem.

“These streams, which increase the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that creates mucilage, need to be rehabilitated and waste recycling facilities should be increased,” Akay said.

If their habitats are protected, it is possible for all living things in the food chain to return, Akay added.

Repeating the necessity of advanced biological treatment to protect the Marmara Sea, the experts said that it should be used more effectively in crowded cities.

The experts said after their dive on June 24 that benthos such as thornback, flounder, needlefish, blenny and crab, which had left the Marmara Sea last summer, returned.

“People need to be more conscious, and it is necessary to ban all kinds of fishing in the region,” Akay said earlier.